Waimea Valley Waterfall...

Waaaaaay back when CJ and Danielle were in town we went to visit the Waimea Waterfall.  If you check out Dave's blog from time to time, then you have seen this waterfall on this post or this post...since he's been there like 4 times  The first time I went to Waimea I mistakenly left my SD card at home (oops), so I didn't get to take any pictures.

Waimea is an Ahupua'a.  What is an Ahupua'a?  Well, I'll tell you!  First, you sort of pronounce it as awe-who-pu-a-a (at least that's as close as I have become to the actual pronunciation ..only true locals seem to pronounce it correctly; every time I think I said it just like a local did they just shake their head and say 'nice try, but still no.'  Ha).  The word literally translates to mean from the mountains to the sea.  It was how land on the island of O'ahu was initially subdivided between different tribes.  So each tribe, or group of people, had a mountain area (where streams would develop), a plains area (to grow crops), and the sea (fishing).  This ensured that each group had a mixture of necessary natural resources.

Today, for the most part, these ahupua'a's are gone, with the exception being Waimea Vally.  Waimea Valley is now a protected sanctuary for protected plants and birds.  Many of the cities around the island are actually named after the old ahupua'a (example: Honolulu and Waikiki were previous ahupua'a's).

OK, well on to some of the pictures.

Danielle, Dave and CJ crossing the bridge

Here is the beautiful waterfall.  It is very refreshing to be in since it's fresh water, but it's pretty cold too.  If it looks famaliar then that's because its often used as a filming location for TV shows or movies (ie. Lost, Jurassic Park, and so on).

CJ and Danielle in the waterfall

Battling a thorn...it was so big it went through my sandle and was poking me in the bottom of my foot.
...and I need a haircut, but don't worry: I already got one.

NKY Visit...

After Utah I took the late night flight to CVG (Thanks Pops for picking me up so late).  It was great seeing many of my family and friends.  Thanks to many of you that took time out of your busy schedules to see me during my very short time back home.

Cincinnati outside my plane window...home sweet home!

I was most excited to meet my new little nephew, and to make sure that my niece (1 year and 5 months) realized I was more than just the Uncle inside the iPad.  Speaking of babies...there's been an explosion of them since I've been away.  Note to friends: was something in the water a year ago?  Never seen so many infants at one time, but they were all very cute.  Thanks Rotie for letting me crash at your place (maximization of niece/nephew time!).

The little guy was all smiles when I met him for the first time!

It was also nice to experience some more fall-type weather.  I definitely miss the season changes here.  And Chipotle never tasted soooooo good!  Is eating Chipotle 3 times during my mainland visit too much?  No, I didn't think so either.  Squeezed in some Skyline and Greater's too.  mmmmmmm...I already miss them all.

...and I made sure not to forget Sage.  She won the award for most excited to see me!  Ha.

That's all I got.  I hardly took any pictures since I was too busy seeing people (I also didn't have my camera).  Now back to Hawaii adventures.  Mahalo for visiting!

Utah...

Hawai'i Topher's not on the islands anymore. I was at corporate for a day of meetings in Salt Lake City, and then Park City, Utah for a corporate retreat. It was nice to meet another 100 manager colleagues. Hawai'i tends to be isolated professionally. Work has kept me so incredibly busy between meetings, conference items and just plain old fun.

What I didn't realize was how beautiful Utah is. Wow. It is stunning here in Park City. I've got to get back here to snowboard in the future too. I even saw the Olympic ski jump area.

On Friday afternoon we had 'activity time." I picked mountain biking but didn't realize I'd be going with 4 expert mountain bikers within the company. They based their trail decision on the fact that I told them I do triathlons and marathons, but I was not prepared for the 6.8 mile climb up the mountain to start the journey. I had to stop a few times on the way up. I made the excuse that I wanted pictures, but really I was just dying. The three guys in their 40's/50's and the one woman in her 40's were kicking my butt. It was a very humbling experience, and they kept saying I was doing great considering the altitude (but I beg to differ...i was just putting on a brave face). They only took one rest break on the way up, and I think it was just to let me catch up. Haha. Once at the top the views were amazing. We rode along the tips of the mountains for a bit and then it was time to head downhill.

The downhill....where I almost died...twice! The terrain was crazy. There were drops of a few feet that you had to go fast into. Adrenaline was pumping the whole way. The switchbacks...oh the switchbacks. This is where I was almost injured seriously twice. I almost went over two embankments; apparently I didn't bank hard enough. Needless to say I didn't get any pictures on the way down since I was just trying to survive. At points I was seriously considering if there was some reason the company was trying to do away with me as an employee???

Fact: very little road biking expertise translates over to mountain biking!

But overall it was awesome and I lived to tell the tale. I completely underestimated what true mountain biking is now. Wow. Hopefully you can see some of the pictures below.

I'm at the Salt Lake City airport now. Next stop: NKY!

Mahalo for visiting. See the pictures below (in no particular order).